Towards sustainable growth of enterprises: a supply chain design

Supply chain design has a crucial role in the prosperity and sustainable growth of enterprises. Network and innovation mutual relationship shapes the orientation and design of the supply chain. Networks are means of securing access to the resources, information and support. A number of studies have examined the relationship between networks and innovation, and show a positive relation between them which results in growth. The contingent nature of networking in the literature makes it a complex phenomenon for an entrepreneur to identify his/her optimal position in the web of networks and master it effectively to provide sustainable presence in the market. This paper examines different types of networking in a broad term and innovation in the context of enterprises and shows the interdependency of networking and innovation. An in-depth review of the extant literature and the grounded theory is applied to develop a conceptual framework for elements of the supply chain by exploring the major layers of networks, innovation and their mutual relationship. Based on this model, several studies are reviewed and this paper offers suggestions in order to understand how the network and innovation reciprocal relationship influences performance.